Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion Lore Bard/Light Cleric Multiclass

I really like the idea of a lore bard/light cleric multiclass character for roleplaying purposes. What I am interested to know is, would this be a seriously weak character in combat? Which class would be the best to have as the base initial class? And how many levels should each get to make sure they’re useful in battle? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Mechanically speaking, I can't say I love this combination. It seems to me that you're going to be spread thin on stats. You'll need Wis, Cha, and Con, at minimum. Your Dex is going to suffer, which is going to hurt your AC and initiative.

Further, you'll primarily be a spellcaster, but you're going to have a hard time getting both your Wis and Cha as high as you'd like. You'll probably be forced to choose one of those stats to excel in, leaving the other one slightly lower, which means one of your classes is going to be more for utility.

Also, despite being a full spellcaster in both classes, you'll be giving up higher level spells, although I don't think that's *so* bad considering the strength of what you're getting in return. Light Cleric and Lore Bard both have some strong features early on.

So... just my opinion... if I had to make this, I would probably...

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Start Cleric. This will give you proficiency is Wis saving throws instead of Dex, which is what the Bard would get. I think in the long run, you'll value Wis more.

Ultimately, I would suggest going 6/6.

This gives you 3rd level spells in both classes.

As a cleric, you get warding flare, improved warding flare, and destroy undead. You also get access to Fireball, which is always a nice touch. Keep in mind, you can upcast this because you will have a full set of spell slots, all the way up to sixth level slots. Not too shabby.

As a bard, you get Song of Rest, Jack of all Trades, Countercharm, Cutting Words, Extra Skill Proficiencies, and Magical Secrets.

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You'll be missing out, as mentioned, on higher levels spells, but I don't think that's terrible. You'll have plenty of spell slots for upcasting Guiding Bolts and Fireballs and Spirit Guardians. You'll also be missing out on an extra feat, which going something like 8/4 would give you, but personally, I don't think the trade is worth it for the extra feat.

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For stats, I suppose I'd suggest starting with something like:

Str 8 (dump)
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 8 (dump)
Wis 16
Cha 15

Use the Hag's Hair to raise your Cha to 16 first chance you get.

For your two feats, I'd suggest the first one be to increase either your Wis or Cha by +2. The second feat could either be used for another ability increase or for Alert if you feel like your Dex is causing you to fall too far behind in initiative. Although you'll probably want to consider some of the initiative bonuses available through gear.

Thank you for the very thoughtful and in-depth response! I appreciate it. Definitely spreading stats across wisdom and charisma isn't ideal, point taken for sure. And I think it's also true that shaving points off of dexterity could pose a problem. I was thinking, though, the DEX problem could go away if I just bought the Gloves of Dexterity from the trader in the creche and, while wearing those gloves, my dexterity would be at 18 "permanently." So I could also potentially make that a dump stat as long as I went for the gloves ASAP and committed to keeping them on?

I think you're right that it would be better to start as a cleric to get proficiency in wisdom saving throws (since I'd like to play as the Dark Urge and I think that there are a few wisdom checks at important moments?). I appreciate the input that going 6/6 could work decently well. That sounds right to me. I agree that it'll be important to get the Hag Hair buff ASAP.

I'm mostly considering this build for roleplaying purposes, as I love the idea of playing a redemption Durge cleric of Selune romancing Shadowheart, but I also love the whole Lohse "cursed/possessed bard" vibe. (She was my favorite character from DOS2.) And bards are just so fun to play. But, I'll have this potentially weaker character balanced out with companions who stick fully to one category.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

14 wisdom and 16 charsima will cover the basics... 12 con and dex is all it takes to have a pos stat
i would take intel over str but yes Lore Bard is very much workable if its the main class

I play a Bard/Fighter/Wizzard/Cleric mutlticlass and I can solo every encounter with it.

If you know how to build your multiclass and play with clear strategy, every class can be OP

So I've been thinking about this and I simulated it as a respec of a level 9 character. And I've concluded that this could be a really cool build, but not from the beginning.

For roleplay purposes as Dark Urge, I think I'm going to do 1-2 levels of Knowledge Cleric and 6 levels of College of Lore Bard in Act 1. Then I'll do 1 level of bard and the rest levels of Light Cleric for Act 2. (I'll have my assorted roleplaying reasons to make all of this make sense.)

And then by the time I'm in Act 3 with potentially 10 levels, I'll do this Bard/Cleric multiclass splitting it, and I think it could work well.

I would just have to pick up any useful buffs throughout Acts 1 and 2 (including hag hair and gloves of dexterity), make strength and dexterity my dump stats (since gloves of dexterity set that stat to 18 regardless), take my two feats as ability improvements, and I should be good to go with 18-19 wisdom and 18-19 charisma by the time I start Act 3.

Adding the charisma buff from the Birthright hat you can get at Sorcerous Sundries, I should be extra good. I like it. But like I said, I think it would be a bad idea to do this from the beginning.